God, why are you such a racist, sexist bastard?

Ok, how shall I answer this???

If I were God’s lawyer I’d probably sue you for defamation. If I were God’s psychologist I’d be helping Him get over this serious blow to his self-esteem. If I were God’s spin-doctor I would be trying to suggest that actually God is a good and loving racist, sexist bastard. Fortunately God doesn’t need me to be any of these people… because (unlike other famous people) he deals prayers and questions personally. However, as a servant of God I offer this not-so-humble opinion.

I can actually see why you think that way.

Racist?

God does seem racist. He picked one nation (Israel), and they were the focus of his attention for hundreds of years. At times He ordered the total destruction of people groups who were acting wickedly. There are probably good theological explanations, but I don’t know them. It’s a hard area.

However, I do know that God promised Abraham that He would make his descendants into a great nation (Israel) and that all nations would then be blessed through Abraham. This was fulfilled when Jesus (the son of God, but also a Jew and a descendant of Abraham) died for the sins of the whole world, not just one race. In the Bible God clearly spells out to Peter that the good news about Jesus is for everyone. God is not dishing out salvation and blessings to some races and not others. It’s an open invitation to everyone.

Sexist?

I presume you mean that God is sexist against women?

At times the church has treated women badly. Some churches seem to teach sexist ideas (like not letting women speak at church or making them wear hats). But let’s separate God from the church here. How does God treat women???

God created man and woman… it was His idea and he said both were very good. After Adam and Eve sinned (they did exactly what God said not to do), both the man and the woman bore the consequences of their disobedience.

Throughout the Bible you don’t see God disapproving of women… instead you see God using them despite the sexist culture of the day. Ruth and Esther are two significant leaders in the Bible and are portrayed more favourably than many of the men. Deborah, a prophetess, led the nation of Israel and was honoured by God. Jesus often spent time with women, and gave them status in a culture which often saw them as 2^nd class citizens. Women were also the first of Jesus’ followers to know He had risen from the dead and were the first to talk to him (quite a privilege!!!)

Sure, the apostle Paul lays down some pretty restrictive rules for women in church in one of his letters. But these probably had to do with respecting the culture of the day. Paul actually lists many women as his close partners in God’s work.

God does however recognize throughout the Bible that men and woman are different (I’m darn glad we are… it certainly keeps relationships fun!) God made men and women different and they have different roles. But that doesn’t mean he is sexist against either women or men.

This is a brief attempt to show that God is neither racist nor sexist. Unfortunately sometimes God’s people tend to misrepresent Him. If you look through the entirely of God’s story in the Bible we will find a God who at times has gone against normal convention to demonstrate that his love encompasses all people, regardless of race or gender.

Is the Islamic God the same as the Jewish God and is He the same as the Christian God?

A very interesting question… and to answer it we need some history. The Jews and Christians share some scripture, for Jews this is the Torah and the Prophets, for Christians these are gathered into the Old Testament of the Bible. These outline the story of God’s interaction with the Jews. According to the Bible, God chose Abraham, a man of faith. He promised to bless him if he would obey and walk with God. Abraham had two sons: Ishmael by his wife’s maidservant, Haggai, and Isaac by his wife, Sarah. In the Old Testament Isaac was heir to the promise and Israelites are descended from him. According to Muslims, Ishmael was also included in the promise, and Arabs reckon their ancestry to Ishmael. Now Christians come into the picture because of Jesus, who was born some 4000 years after Abraham. The story goes something like this: The Israelites were supposed to model how life should be lived in relationship with God and with others. However the Israelites went away from God again and again. So God allowed the Israelites to be conquered by enemies, but he promised to send a “Messiah” to save the people and establish His Kingdom where there would be no more suffering or trouble. Christians believe that Jesus was this Messiah but that he not only came for the Jews but for the whole world. Anyone who believes in Jesus becomes part of the ‘true’ Israel, i.e. becomes part of God’s people.

Christians would say that both they and Jews worship the same God and the true God. However they believe that worship can only be acceptable to God through Jesus, who is part of the triune God. For Jews this is blasphemy as it’s very important to them that God is one. For Christians, as Jesus was God, when he came as a man he completely revealed the character of God. Jews reject this, so the Christian and Jewish view of God is slightly different. For instance some Jews expect a military Messiah who will be victorious. Jesus was a “suffering Messiah” who died in humanity’s place as the consequence for turning away from God, and through this achieved victory over death and sin.

Muslims believe that they worship the same God as Jews and Christians because they all worship the God of Abraham. But they believe that Jews and Christians have distorted God’s message. According to the Quran, Abraham, Moses and Jesus were actually Muslims, they were prophets who received God’s word and wrote it in a book. The last and most important prophet is Mohammed, who received visions from Allah and these are written down in the Quran. The Quran either affirms or replaces anything that previous prophets may have said. Islam belief is that Christians and Jews have the chance to submit to God and become true Muslims, but at the end times they will be wiped out. However the God of the Bible and Allah are very different. One difference is that Allah resides far away in heaven and the goal is to submit to him whereas the Judeo-Christian God is both in heaven and on earth and it’s possible to have a relationship with him.

So the answer to the question is both yes and no. All three religions believe in a monotheistic God who created the world and everything in it. And the root of all three of the religions is the same. However they believe different things about what God is like and the way to get to and please God, and that makes the God they worship different. This is the big issue with the question. Although people may say they worship the same God, even within any one religion, individual beliefs about what God is like vary. Therefore people are actually believing in and worshipping different Gods. It’s my opinion that all human belief in God is coloured by personal ideas. However as a Christian I believe that Jesus revealed the true God, and as you can have a relationship with Him, He can reveal to you what He is truly like. This doesn’t happen over night of course; rather you grow in your knowledge of God over your life.

So whether all Christians, Muslims and Jews are worshipping the same God and whether He accepts all their worship is a debatable question. As a Christian I would say that sin (trying to be God of your own life) separates people from God and without Jesus’ sacrifice for sin no one can come to God. However I personally believe that for those who haven’t heard of Jesus, if they are responding with worship to their revelation of God, realizing their sin and God’s holiness, then that is all that He asks. But that is just my belief and not one all Christians agree on.

(A disclaimer – I am not an authority on Judaism or Islam so if I got things wrong I apologise. For that matter I am not an authority on Christianity either, but this is my answer to the question from what I know of the three religions!)

References:

- Durie, Mark. Revelation? Do we worship the same God?, CityHarvest Publications, 2006
- Holy Bible, The. New International Version. International Bible Society, 1984
- Lewis, C.S. Mere Christianity, William Collins Sons & Co, 1976
- Parshall, Phil. The Cross and the Crescent, Gabriel Publishing, 2002